香港 - Hong Kong

It’s amazing how a simple trip to another town can rejuvenate you on so many levels. What initially was a trip to refresh my 60 day limit of stay in China, turned into an incredible experience in an unimaginable city.

If you take away the Chinese characters, a street in Hong Kong could easily be mistaken for a street in Las Vegas or even New York City for that matter. Second only to American big cities, it is perhaps the most diverse city I have ever come across. Sure, the majority of the city is packed with native Chinese, but around every corner lies something from another part of the world—mosques, catholic monasteries, French restaurants, Bank of America, British trolleys, etc… It was a truly fascinating experience.

Hong Kong still baffles me when it comes to figuring out where it belongs in the Chinese system. It’s considered part of China, but when traveling there you have to go through customs and Americans don’t need a visa for entry. Chinese customs considers a trip to Hong Kong to be “leaving the country” but at the same time it’s a Special Economic Zone according to China’s government. After experiencing the city, it’s almost as if it doesn’t belong in China’s realm. Perhaps that’s why it’s considered a separate entity in many cases.

Entering Hong Kong is like entering a China that exists 20 or even 50 years from now. The Great Firewall of China, as they call it, doesn’t exist in Hong Kong. The people all speak English. Protests are supposedly quite common and legal. On one stretch of road, I think I saw a place of worship for at least all of the great world religions. Things like this are unthinkable on the “mainland.” Perhaps the most surprising difference was the incredibly progressive/liberal views towards pornography. Let’s just say Hong Kong takes it too far when following the marketing edict of “sex sells.” Comparing Hong Kong to Beijing is like comparing Las Vegas to Salt Lake City—worlds apart.

Through all the commotion in the city which seemed to last 24/7, I was able to find a Catholic church nearby my hotel. Because Hefei has no Catholic churches, it was probably the most attractive part of the whole city. I was able to catch mass both full days I was there and even made time for confession. To show how diverse the place is, there were two priests saying mass: one from India, and one from Hong Kong. The priest who heard my confession was from Spain and had been in China for 18 years, mostly Hong Kong. Needless to say, it was a much needed break.

A few good friends were able to provide me with some clutch suggestions relating to food and must-see sights. The first was the Inter-Continental Hotel. It’s ranked in the top hotels in the world, so of course I couldn’t afford to stay there, but I could afford to have some sushi at their restaurant with a view overlooking Victoria Harbor and downtown Hong Kong. Then there were the shopping areas. If I was a weaker man, I would have bankrupt my father with all the incredible deals they had going in those shopping centers. I held strong, not spending a single dollar on clothes or other merchandise. Finally, I went to see the giant Buddha statue. It was an interesting experience to say the least and I was able to ride a gondola-esque ski lift up to it at extremely high altitudes that frightened me at times.

Overall, Hong Kong was an incredible experience. Although I could probably never live there, I would recommend everyone to see it at least once. It’s beautiful and culturally rich regardless of what the British did to the place. Furthermore, it’s living proof, along with New Zealand and Australia, that outside of Africa colonialism did a lot of good. Next time you doubt that, ask someone from Hong Kong if they’d rather be living in Beijing.

‘Til Next Time Friends,

Michael

Did you think I would forget the pictures?

Had to post this one. Saint Michael slaying a Dragon! Backdrop is Hong Kong.

British spelling is like nails on a chalkboard.

Comedy

Hong Kong in the day.

Hong Kong at night. Give me a break, I had no tripod so I had to set my camera on a gate.

Shopping District in Kowloon

Way too high.

Woman praying to Buddha

Me in front of the big Buddha. I posted this for my mother so she knows I'm still alive.

Papa Wurth and Jeremy Come to China

Life’s not easy in China and I wanted to make sure my father understood that. I never would have wanted it to happen this way though. Soon after arriving at the Hefei airport, we were forced to split up into two taxis due to the obscene amount of luggage and the personal pharmacy my father enjoys carrying alone. Taxi one consisted of me, and taxi two consisted of Papa Wurth and Jeremy. After telling the taxi driver, in Chinese, where to drop them off, I thought all was swell.

I started worrying a little bit after five minutes of waiting at the destination. I started to worry a lot after I saw their driver pull up without them onboard. He started yelling at me explaining I told him the wrong gate but then I politely reminded him that he heard wrong and when I corrected him he forgot the correction and still took them to the wrong gate. After chasing them down for what seemed like two hours in the freezing rain, I found them, right where they were supposed to be—the Guest House.

Great way to start off the journey in China I thought. They learned quickly the fact of China that few people speak English and even fewer know how to get anywhere outside of a one mile radius of their home. It’s fair to say that the mishap on day one was the first and only of the trip. All else went as smooth as a baby’s bottom.

I was quickly able to show the duo the most useful spots around town realizing that they wouldn’t be able to find them without a translator anyway. Jeremy and Dad came to love a place bakery called Bread Talk and made it a daily destination for the most part. Food, though a huge concern to begin with, was a non-issue. Chinese are basically vegetarians that eat meat on occasion and their daily food isn’t as on-the-edge as my experiences and pictures may have led on. Dad’s home away from home was McDonalds and Jeremy’s was the tea house where we spent much of our time. I must insert a side note here. Although Dad spent many hours at McDonalds drinking coffee and working, I will say he only ate their once and it was a chicken sandwich. I was very proud of him. He considered it more like a Starbucks than a McDonalds and he showed great self-restraint.

Our diet consisted of reserved meals such as vegetables, beef, pork, dumplings with a combination of the previous, and some more adventurous things like turtle and stinky tofu. (Dad actually tried the turtle!!)

Stinky tofu was quite the hit with Papa Wurth and Jeremy. They were first introduced to the delightful snack while walking near what they thought was a sewage leak—hello stinky tofu. It is literally impossible to imagine how bad this stuff really smells. The best way to describe it is this: if your child walked up to you and wreaked of stinky tofu, you would think the baby somehow ate a pound of blue cheese mixed with curdled milk, proceeded to defecate the now digested foods, then put this defecation in a bowl of sulfur and stirs, finally, before placing it all over him/herself, continues to allow the sulfur-covered defection to mold for about two days in the mid-summer sun. It’s that bad. If you don’t believe me, feel free to ask either of them, they will go into stories of how they both almost vomited when they first smelled it and then how they almost changed tables when Dr. Lu decided to order it.

Another thing Dad found quite peculiar/annoying, was the Chinese obsession with bones. This greatly contrasts to Papa Wurth’s undying love for de-boning chicken and boneless meat in general. Two worlds collided and neither Jeremy nor I, nor any Chinese we ate with thereafter heard the end of that bitter debate about when China will start de-boning their meat.

After getting all the tourist things out of the way, it was time to start preparing for THE TALK. We prepared quite a bit for about two days and pretty much remade a large portion of the talk. Jeremy and I would start our days at the tea shop drinking free tea, and Dad would start his at McDonalds drinking coffee and writing down thoughts for his talk. Wednesday came and that evening was the big event. Dad nailed it and the students truly enjoyed his wisdom. He was asked some difficult questions but they were all very pleased with his answers and even more impressed with what they already knew about him after some research on Google. (Apparently it’s quite easy to find out who is selling houses and even how much they are going for. Needless to say, the probably hadn’t heard of a house costing anywhere near that much considering housing is pretty cheap and readily available in China).

After the talk, Jeremy and I laid out our suggestions and once again, Papa Wurth started from scratch for talk number two which was for the MBA students. The following days were spent working and playing and eating delicious foods and perusing China and its wonders. Everyone was starting to get a hang of the routine. Tea house in the morning, office in the late morning, lunch at San Li An shopping center, and free time in the afternoon before a big banquet dinner at night. Life was good.

Saturday morning came and Papa Wurth was locked and loaded for talk number two. If Dad got a B+ for his performance on Wednesday, he surely deserved an A+ for Saturday. The talk was intriguing and the students showed their interest by their outstanding questions. I heard more than once during and after the talk over my shoulder “Your Dad is awesome.” He really did a great job. After the talk we had a wonderful lunch with the students and they were able to continue asking questions and conversing. The real fun occurred about 6 hours later when we convinced Papa Wurth to join us at karaoke, or rather, KTV. To call KTV China’s favorite pastime is not an exaggeration. They are everywhere! Probably close to one on every block. After watching Dad get his groove on and Jeremy and I joining in on some great classics I knew that they had truly experienced modern day China.

As for their reaction to Papa Wurth in general, it was quite funny at times. They couldn’t understand is fascination with boneless meat and couldn’t understand his distaste for foods like donkey (he did try it though!), eel, stinky fish and stinky tofu. I explained how it was difficult for older people to try new things because they had been on a path their entire life. They understood. What they didn’t quite understand was Jeremy’s status as a vegan. Vegetarian was easy enough to understand. Vegan was a word we had to explain to them. In fact, Dr. Lu still refers to it, when speaking with his students about it, as vegan. The reason? Because there probably isn’t a commonly used word for it in the Chinese language! The primary concern for the Chinese was his inability to consume egg, which is just about in every single dish in Chinese traditional foods.

For the rest of our experiences, refer to the pictures. They speak louder than words.

Michael

Pictures Courtesy of Jeremy Gleason!

Papa Wurth on a camel at the Hefei Wild Animal Park

Jeremy getting his cheap thrills, cost about $2

Dad and I

Dad enjoying the snow with his USSR hat

Moto-Taxi that wanted to drive Dad home. He wasn't having it.

Jeremy and I with our tea expert.

Dad's first talk.

Ladies and Gentlemen, that is dog hanging on the far left.

Traditional Restaurant

Jeremy making some tea Gong Fu style.

Dad's final talk with Jeremy eyeing the camera.

Catching Up and Sharing Wisdom

Yes I am still alive. Blogs are tough; I understand that some people want to know what I’m doing daily and how I’m faring in China, but at the same time, I want to make sure every blog is at least interesting if not all out entertaining. We walk a fine line. One warning I have to throw in here—being in a foreign country that speaks a different language does horrible things to your English. With that said, I can not guarantee my writing will live up to past blogs or even make much sense for that matter.

The past couple weeks have flown by. I’ve been studying just about every day trying to memorize as many characters as humanly possible. MBA and undergraduate classes in business are interesting and I’m also learning a lot in both of those. I love it here but always think about home and family and friends. Luckily, my father and friend, Jeremy Gleason, visited me last week and I was able to show them around and prove to my father that I wasn’t wasting my time or his money and that I am actually learning a little bit of the language! It was a good week and a lot of fun. Now, I’m back to my usual schedule of studying and eating and sleeping. It looks like we will be heading to Hong Kong in order to rectify my visa problems. (I’m only allowed to be in China for 60 days at a time so I have to leave the country and then re-enter in order to avoid imprisonment).

Some observations:

Consider yourself lucky. As most of you know, China is a communist country and therefore limits the freedom its citizens have. One of these freedoms we often take for granted is academic. Let’s see, I’ve changed my major in college three times now as I’m sure so many of you did as well. In China, it’s not that easy. Each student takes a national college exam, similar to the SAT except it holds a lot more weight—in fact, it holds all the weight. Each student also selects three universities in each tier. For example, in America first tier would be Harvard, Stanford, Yale. Second tier would be UCI, Northeastern, etc… Furthermore, you select your top three choices for majors. Now depending on your score, you will either get your top choice school and major or none of them, or a combination of the two. So if I did poorly on my exam, I might be thrown in my third tier school and then given a major that wasn’t even on my top three. Could you imagine? Paying for school to study something you aren’t the least bit interested in? That’s what quite a few students end up doing in China and having to live with it after college. If nothing else, it sure does make you want to ace that national exam! The point I’m trying to make is that seemingly little things aren’t so little. One of my friends here in China wanted to major in law. She did decent on her national exams and she’s pretty darn smart (she got a 730 out of 800 on her GMAT—perspective: the average Harvard Business School student got a 713). But, because the system has it’s quirks, to say the least, she was placed in her second tier schools and given a major that wasn’t even on her list, Telecommunications.

On a less serious note, I’ve been experimenting with new foods over the past couple of weeks and, sadly, the most exciting thing I’ve eaten was pig brains hot pot. Pretty simple, pretty delicious. Just throw the raw pig brains in the hot pot and wait 20 minutes to consume. Sounds good right? Yes! Picture below.

Words of wisdom from someone who has lived her for over a month now. Don’t step on manholes, no matter where you are walking. You never know who put them back on and whether or not they are supported underneath. This is much harder than it sounds. Although I haven’t had any negative experiences with these, I have heard of a couple. Better to be safe than sorry I guess. Next, don’t drink alcohol in China. I’m sure many of you are thinking, “yea right! Like I wouldn’t get wasted at every club in China!” Well, you might get wasted, but it might be the last time you do it with your vision! China is infamous for it’s black market and this includes some high end liquors. Ranging from wine to vodka, it’s almost impossible to tell from the bottle whether or not it’s real. The only thing for sure is that it’s really dangerous. Many black markets search for an expensive item, like alcohol, and try and replicate it on a much cheaper level. Unfortunately, for alcohol, this means using industrial alcohol (sometimes pure ethyl alcohol) and mixing it with something that tastes like the good stuff. Well, needless to say it can kill and even has the potential to blind if you drink too much. Oh how I’d love to throw this wrench into the party scene of friends who drink too much! You think it would reduce the number of alcoholics in America? I say it might not be such a bad idea.

This side note might seem hilarious but keep in mind I nearly had a heart attack when this occurred. Call me naïve, but I was seriously at a loss for words in English, let alone Chinese.

Upon arriving at the spa with my father and Jeremy, with the help of Dr. Lu’s son, Watson, I helped set up full body massages for them both. Of course, me being the confident person I am, I thought I could handle doing it for myself without Watson’s help. Boy I wish I could rewind the hands of time. Unfortunately, the Chinese are a very literal group of people and when you say “full body”, they mean FULL BODY! You might be thinking, ok full body means back, arms, shoulders, neck, legs and maybe feet, but you would be missing one key element. I won’t elaborate. I decided I wanted a full body massage and that’s exactly what I told the manager who found me a bed and a table. What happened five minutes later has scarred me for life and I may not ever be able to recover. In walks a woman wearing a very proper dress, far too proper for a masseuse considering every masseuse wears the same outfit. The manager follows and says “is this ok?” To which I respond in English then Chinese: oh my gosh! No no no no no no no. I want a massage!! Everyone in the room simultaneously gets really embarrassed and the manager apologizes as she leaves to find a masseuse. I did not enjoy the massage.

Final thought: This one is quite random and actually comes about from a practice the Chinese government uses when putting people to death. I find it fascinating. I don’t mean for this to be a platform for my conservative tendencies but I just wanted to share this.

First of all, I don’t believe in the death penalty but if it is legal, why not make it work for the innocent. When sentenced to death in China, the convicted party is simply shot in the head once. To me, that seems like a very quick death lacking any sort of suffering. Effective and probably not considered cruel and unusual punishment. Not to mention, its cost-effectiveness. Here’s where it gets good. Standing by during the execution is a team of highly trained surgeons ready to operate immediately thereafter. These surgeons remove all usable organs from the dead person and then quickly rush them to the hospitals to be used on people who need them. While I understand it would be a very limited number of people that would be helped considering how infrequently we put people to death, but it still seems like a respectable idea. Why inject these people with expensive medicines in an attempt to dull the suffering while destroying their perfectly useful organs when it sometimes doesn’t even work? If we want a death penalty that never fails, I propose following the economical and effective method used by the Chinese. How’s that for communism?

Cheers,

Michael

Pollution, it's not always this bad.

Just a cool picture with long exposure at night.

Tiger at Hefei Wild Animal Park

Panda

White Tiger and I

Day after first snowfall in Hefei

Pig Brains before being cooked

Dr. Lu, Dad, and I

Dad, Jeremy, and I enjoying China's favorite pasttime, Karaoke.

Short: Beware of Moto-Taxies

I just wanted to post a warning to some and an opportunity to others.

If there's one thing that can get really frustrating in China, it's the absence of taxies when you need them most. Supply and Demand for taxies is never at an equilibrium. In the morning it isn't a rare sight to see one person hail a cab and have 5 taxies lined up ready. During rush hour, or even worse--rush hour when it's raining--you might as well not even try. There has been several times where I have waited more than an hour to drive 20 minutes.

Today was no different. Rush hour, about 4 pm, and I needed to get to the outdoor market to purchase a suit. I waited outside the university campus for about an hour before giving up. Just as I was about to walk away, something pulled up in my periphery. At first, I thought it was a motorcycle that I had walked in front of and nearly killed myself--I wish that were the case.

I came to find out after he asked me where I needed to go that he was what they call in a China a moto-taxi. Simple idea, seemingly effective. Someone who owns a motorcycle and wants to make a few extra bucks every day drives around town illegally picking up civilians who need to go places more quickly for a slightly steeper price.

I jumped on.

I told him where to head and what ensued was perhaps one of the most adrenaline-inducing rides of my life--slightly short of epinephrine. He drove that motorcycle like King Kong was giving chase. Fast is an understatement; graceful is quite generous. If we didn't come within one inch of at least 30 cars and perhaps 1,000 people then I was dreaming. Red lights? They only apply to vehicles with 4 wheels with passengers that care about survival. We were on a mission. Dodging moving vehicles and not stopping to run red lights were just some of the highlights. Tack on a few screams from little old ladies crossing the street and what seemed like endless honking and you still only get about 10% of the picture. We weaved through people, passed cars without a hint of concern and changed lanes as though we were driving through the deserted area of Chernobyl.

I caught myself laughing. Not to myself like I should have been but literally out loud. The idea that my life could end on the back of a 20 year old motorcycle with the driver wearing a helmet and the skin of my bald head chilled in the wind, I couldn't think of anything else to do but hold on and stare up at the sky laughing out loud. After the initial 10 minutes of absolute fear, the final 10 minutes consisted of me realizing how truly amazing this experience was. For the first time in Hefei, I felt like I was doing something adventurous and exciting. I saw the entire city and was able to feel the rush of ice-climbing, dirt bike riding and everything else in between in the middle of downtown Hefei.

To top off the ride, we exited the street and again began playing frogger along the sidewalk of frenzied people. During this exercise, my driver managed to only run in to one woman--impressive. He drove up next to a carnival-like game with a child holding a gun. The object of the game is to pop balloons with the darts. Unlike America, this game had a real dart gun aimed at a 4'x4' box with about 40 small balloons jammed inside and holding the loaded gun was a 3 year old. Like clockwork, as soon as we came up behind the little red box two things happened simultaneously--he fired the gun and missed the box and my driver almost dropped the bike out of fear as we swerved meaningfully away. It almost seemed too good to be true.

Dangerous... maybe. Exhilarating... absolutely. After being dropped off and being charged a full 10 yuan more than he initially requested (I didn't care, the ride was incredible!) I wobbled off on light feet towards the outdoor mall. After running into a duo of dancing monkeys and do-nothing caged rabbits I ended up not buying a suit and catching a safe taxi back home.

Thus concludes my experience aboard China's most exhilarating transportation services. I assure you there will be more to come. Next time I'm feeling bored, fun is just a 5 minute walk away.

Michael

*No humans or animals were harmed in the course of this event. Many came close to being harmed and some came close to dying but with the help of God, all walked away. I can not verify, however, the ethical treatment of the dancing monkeys nor the caged rabbits.

Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera and have no pictures. This won't happen again.

Parental Discretion is Advised

Parents: If your college aged child disappears and ends up in a third world country after reading this blog, please contact my lawyer at 1(800) 555-1234. If he doesn't answer, just keep trying.

Cultural relativism, according to the flawless Wikipedia, is defined as the principle that an individual human’s beliefs and activities should be understood in terms of his or her own culture. Traveling the world has forced me to remind myself of the importance of this way of thinking. To visit a society for a week is one thing; to be immersed in that same society for more than two months requires effort and study.

I have been in Hefei now for a little over a week and have already experienced more than I could have ever asked for. Being involved in dinners, meetings, classes, and much more has given me a perspective on the Chinese culture that is, not only interesting, but truly necessary in order to gain the respect of the people.

I intend to cover two things in this blog. The first being the countless cultural differences and means of overcoming them; the second being how extraordinarily cheap it truly is to live in this country compared to America. The second topic might seem out of place but the reason I want to cover it is simple: I’m tired of people emailing me telling me how much they wish they could travel abroad but don’t have the time or the money. Obviously, it is aimed at those of us who are lucky enough to be in college or even the later stages of high school.

Cultural Differences

The simplest things can often be perceived as rude or disrespectful. Take dinner for example. In America, the only seats that resemble status are at the head of the table. However, in China, almost all tables are circular. The most important guest sits farthest from and facing the door. As you go around the table, your importance becomes less and less until your back is facing directly to the door and you are the closest. The reason for this has to do with ancient times. People closest to the door were most susceptible to attacks from enemies entering the dining area. Simple enough. Lesson learned.

The next is food. Now this has less to do with being rude and more to do with survival. While eating a meal the other day I started putting what I thought were vegetables into a tortilla-like food to make myself a good old Chinese taco. Of course, I didn’t really examine the substance but ate it with delight. My pallet was pleased and I had no worries. Until… my colleague asked, “Are these baby snakes?” To my dismay, the long vegetables were not vegetables at all but rather headless snakes in disguise. Here is the most incredible phenomenon. Even though the dish was delicious and I had already stomached at least two tacos, it became much harder to swallow knowing I was eating miniature satans from the Garden of Eden. Conclusion: When in China, eat first, ask questions later. Since adopting this strategy I have become much more “Chinese” to say the least. I have devoured bowls of sea-slug soup, eaten chicken tongues, digested pig feet and most likely much much more. In order to appear cultured and to avoid offending other people, eat then ask.

Tangent: I just want to point out something I have learned that even made me cringe for some negative reason whether it was disgust, sadness, or something else it is really irrelevant. Somewhere near the border of China and Vietnam monkey brains are a delicacy. The monkeys are rhesus monkeys and they are extremely expensive. However, if your wallet allows and your fear of the afterlife is non-existent, it is possible to consume "live monkey brains." I know this sounds sadistic and borderline cannibalistic, but, being the only source of information from China that most of you have, I find it necessary to explain. The monkey, who we shall call Curious George, is first force-fed rice wine to inebriate the him. George is then placed in a constraining device where his skull is viewed from the table. The "chef"/sick human being/future serial killer then takes a knife and cracks the skull of the living monkey open until the brain is visible. At this point, I pass out. Then, boiling soup is poured into the monkey's skull to cook the brains and add flavor. How many of you sick people are still reading this? ha. Finally, the starving diners are allowed to enjoy some fresh monkey brain while Curious George screams at you and questions your humanity. I know I've tried many disgusting things in my life. But, I think this might be where I draw the line. Anyone else interested in trying?

Some other things to avoid: hugging, asking adults their first name, turning down an offering of green tea, not drinking alcohol at the dinner table especially when toasts are being given, disagreeing with the Chinese government, etc. If you have any specific questions please feel free to ask, I’ll be here all month.

Cost of Living (COL)

Traveling in America is extremely expensive. For God’s sake America’s poverty line begins at $30 dollars a day for one person. Let’s consider: My flight to China cost me $800 dollars round trip, spread out over 60 days that is about $13/day. Add in the cost of food in Hefei, I’m talking very good food, at a meager $3/day. I’m currently living in a 3 star hotel for approximately $10/day. My daily cost of living including travel expenses comes out to $26/day. Now, how many friends of mine reading this blog honestly think they live anywhere near the poverty line? I would go out on a limb and say that there isn’t a single one of my friends in college that touches $50/day living in America during the summer months while home from school. Now will someone please explain to me why you can’t “afford” to travel all over the world again? (Note: If anyone uses this as a bargaining tool with their parents, you must up the ante to $52/day to travel and change the cost of living in America to $100/day and bring me along with you!)

On to serious business. Over the course of the past week since my last blog I have met some fascinating people and learned so much from some of the brightest minds I’ve ever spoken to (this excludes you Dad of course…). I feel like I’ve just been thrown into a dream situation at the cost of $26/day. Every day I wake up, go into the office, study Chinese, meet someone important for lunch, study more Chinese or maybe attend a lecture on business in China, and then have dinner with a government official! Somewhat of an exaggeration but it’s incredible nonetheless. My spoken Chinese is improving rapidly and my reading and writing is gaining some speed but I can’t begin to describe how lucky I feel to be working with some of the brightest minds in the fields of business and education in China and the world for that matter.

Every day I engage in thoughtful debate with individuals who have spent their lives researching these topics and I get pummeled over and over again only to find a new perspective. I’m still not a communist sympathizer and I will forever cherish In-N-Out, but I am truly expanding my horizons in the truest definition of the phrase. I am attending lectures by ex-university presidents from America and sitting in on MBA classes at the MIT of China. Thank you all for reading my blog. I know I go off on random tangents and sometimes they are excruciatingly long but I’m trying my best to share my experiences and the incredible things I learn every day. It’s a lot more difficult to write a frequent blog mostly due to time constraints and a lack of change from day to day life. If anyone has any questions just email me or comment on the blog!

再见, that’s goodbye in Chinese,

Michael

Pictures:

Chicken tongues and other mouth parts...

The infamous chicken feet

Pig foot with straw to slurp out the bone marrow

Sea-Cucumber soup with everything!

Some comedy for you to lighten the load

Brace Yourself...

I haven’t posted a blog in what seems like two months. It’s really been a week which is far too long and I apologize. However, I didn’t want to post a blog that consisted of travel information like flight numbers and boring tidbits like that. I wanted to wait until I had something exciting to report on. So here it is. Let me add a warning. This blog isn’t necessarily exciting. I would rate it more of an informative blog rather than entertaining. I apologize if it’s dull.

The flight back to Beijing was not too bad. As a side effect of attempting to spend the night in the airport the night before my flight from New Zealand, I was almost able to sleep the entire duration of my flights. My stay in Beijing was short. Highlight was probably getting a full head shave in a local barbershop. Hair is semi-normal as you’ll see in the pictures later.

I arrived in Hefei not knowing at all what to expect. I hadn’t met anyone here, I didn’t have a clue what I would be doing, and I didn’t know where I would be staying. Those questions are somewhat answered at this point.

Dr. Lu is my supervisor, you might call him, for the next two months I will be at China University of Science and Technology in Hefei. He has a PhD in Business and is a really intelligent and easy-going person. I quickly realized I would be staying at the University Guest House which is basically a mini-hotel in the middle of the campus. It’s nice. My room is quaint but absolutely livable. The first night I was here I was invited to dinner with some important guests that Dr. Lu was also responsible for. It was a good experience to get to know everyone and to get a feel for the people I was going to be working with. Dr. Lu is actually a pretty important person in China. His students range from Government officials to Presidents of large corporations. It's nice knowing that I'm in pretty good hands! Let's just say he's kind of a big deal and leave it at that!

A note on the University. China has it's set of elite universities. The comparisons that come to mind are Beijing University = Harvard and Xinghua University = Princeton. Well, according to several sources that I've talked to from the University and from America, USTC (the school I'm at) is usually compared to MIT. Not a poor comparison I guess. Pretty good in my book. Maybe I don't belong here! haha

The next morning we left for a conference in WuHu, Anhui Province—about a 2 hour drive. The Chinese government put us all up in a five star hotel in WuHu and each of us was given our own room with two beds and way too many free gifts. We were spoiled. Now, I’ve stayed at many hotels in my life, but this hotel was extravagant. My room was on the 27^th floor overlooking the Yangzi River and the rest of WuHu. I was so high up, my ears literally popped every time I took the elevator—I didn’t even know that was possible.

As soon as we arrived in WuHu we met with the Mayor of the city and he had a banquet for us at his favorite restaurant. Food was delicious and it was one of my first traditional-style meals. Chinese people love to make toasts! I think people toasted to me like 45 times in the past 3 days. Why? I have no idea.

After lunch we were given a tour of the Chery car company’s assembly line which was fascinating. Right after the tour we headed to the opening dinner of the Cartoon Conference. Did I mention this entire conference was about cartoons? Well, it was. The dinner again was delicious. I was able to shake hands with the Communist Party leader of Anhui Province. For those of you who don’t know what that means, it’s a big deal. He’s kind of like the equivalent of Arnold Schwarzenegger without all the movies. After dinner we rushed in to see the Anhui Province version of the Beijing Opera. (Shout out to Nichole, this Anhui Opera is about 100 times more interesting and more tolerable than the Beijing version). It was quite long, I was pretty tired and it finally ended. Here’s where it gets cool. Our drive from the theatre to the hotel was about a 45 minute drive earlier in the day. But, since we were somehow inserted into the Party leader’s motorcade and every street was shut down and every light was green we made it in about 15 minutes. My first thought was “I hope one day I’m important enough that I am in a motorcade that I actually deserve to be in, not just by chance.” The Chinese Party Leaders were forced to stay in a four star hotel vs. our five star because their hotel was apparently easier to post security. That’s right.

The next morning I woke up early and went for a run to the Yangzi River to get a close up view. The river is massive. There are freighters all along it and the water wouldn't necessarily be well thought of by the World Health Organization. Cool nonetheless.

After my run we ended up going to the opening ceremonies of the conference. It’s a funny thing in China. Big events aren’t considered important unless they have their token white man present. We were their token white men. I was invited onstage by the organizers but I failed to bring a suit to China. If I had a suit, I would have been standing alongside the Communist Party leader of Anhui province and the mayor. Why? Best way to describe this is to say that it has a lot to do with my international appearance! It was an interesting morning filled with cartoons.

Finally, we bailed and had another banquet lunch. Before heading home, Dr. Lu arranged for us to go fishing (see pictures below). Fishing in China was something I never thought I would have the chance to do. It was a really cool experience and although I caught no fish (I blame it on the bait they gave me), I had a really good time.

I feel like I’ve been extremely spoiled in the past two days primarily by the Communist Government. I don’t think the rest of my stay will be like that but it was a really great way to start off my time in China.

I’ll try to do some fun and interesting things as soon as possible in order to make this blog actually readable.

Thanks,

Michael

Pictures:

Polluted but pretty cool view nonetheless. Yangzi River with heavy traffic. WuHu in the foreground.

I wasn't kidding about being treated like royalty. Not enough space for my last name, no biggie. It's the thought that counts.

On a Chinese assembly line.

Turtle head anyone? Who would ever eat that?

I would! This sounds disgusting, but the brain is actually really delicious. Tender.

Communist Party Leader of Anhui Province

Fishing in the middle of farmland. Traditional style. Fun stuff.

CHOICE!

Entering most countries poses a problem. This problem is simple and common: language. However, thanks to the British incredible ability to conquer nations and create colonies, we Americans reap the benefit. Shall we point out a few: India, South Africa, most of Africa, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, and of course, New Zealand. This might sound great to some, but it does come with a hitch. English in New Zealand can actually seem like a foreign language sometimes. It’s amazing. Slang like “Sweet as!”, “Choice”, “Mate”, “JAFA”, “Cheers”, “Breakie”, “Sunnies”, and way too many more. In order, translated to English: “Awesome”, “Great”, “Friend”, Just another F***** Aucklander”, “Goodbye”, “Breakfast”, “Sunglasses.” The point I’m trying to make is this, sometimes you might as well be in a country that speaks a foreign language. It’s almost like Spanish vs. Portuguese or Mandarin vs. Cantonese; it gets tough.

The good news is that no matter what, these people, foreign language speakers or not, are good mates. (See some of you might think that means good for reproducing or a good lay but you would be wrong). They are simply cool people. When stretching the limits of what is humanly possible and mentally permissible, it really helps to have good folks cheering you on and helping you every step. Which brings me to my next point.

A great example: ice climbing. Now this isn’t your every day hike up a hill that has a little ice buildup because of yesterday’s slight drizzle. I’m talking straight 80 foot glacier cliffs with a vertical slope and a few overhangs. It was surreal. Also quite frightening. I’m starting to realize the power of adrenaline. With activities like ice climbing with pickaxes and skydiving and scuba diving and whitewater rafting and mountain biking, I don’t understand why people need drugs. Adrenaline is the most incredible drug. Best of all, it usually comes pretty cheap. Life is unbelievable. Life in New Zealand is a gift from God.

Ice climbing consisted of stiff boots, crampons (ice picks on feet), two ice axes, and a helmet. With three anchors at the top of the ice wall acting as a pulley and a person holding the other end of the rope with a belaying device, your objective is to climb the wall by kicking the ice and reaching as high as possible with the axes. By the time you reach the top, you can’t feel your arms if you are lucky. If you happen to under-work and don’t reach the point of paralysis in your arms, you feel pain like it’s going out of business. Top it all off with an accidental look down to an 80 foot straight drop onto jagged ice and you got yourself a rush of adrenaline.

I don’t know if the pictures do it justice but it was one hell of a day. Definitely the most incredible thing I have done this entire trip. It’s something I really hope to do again in the near future.

Explanation of the hair. Transformation is the best word to describe it. It might only be mental but it works well enough for me. The reason I decided to allow Matt Hall to do this to my head was because I realized that jumping out of a plane was not something the reserved Michael would be willing to do. I needed a new me at least for the time being. I thought the archetypal being that does things like jump out of planes or climb ice walls that are far too tall usually has a Mohawk and not a care in the world. That was the goal. So far it seems to be working. Fear not my amazing brother and my poor mother, the landing strip will be gone by the end of the trip and before I meet anyone who may judge me at first sight.

Thanks everyone for your support. This whole experience has been amazing. I leave for China again on Monday and I’m not sure what exactly I’ll be doing while I’m there but I promise to keep uploading pictures and blogs.

Love and Prayers,

Michael

Picton, New Zealand. Speaks for itself, make sure you enlarge it.

We saw this dead cow on our tour of Glenorchy.

Glenorchy

That's higher than it looks, especially if you look down.

So much fun.

Toodaloo...

G'day Mate

Picture above will be explained tomorrow. For now, I shaved my head and left a Mohawk.

Moving on. Have you ever been to a place where you seriously considered never leaving? Giving up everything you have worked so hard for and living the simple life? Knowing that no matter how terrible your life is, you can always rest assured that you live in one of the most beautiful places on planet earth? New Zealand is that place.

It’s hard to elaborate in words but it parallels heaven on earth. I don’t mean that in the cliché way that most people use it, but I actually think that if God ever chose a place on earth to be heaven, it would look a lot like New Zealand. With a little over 1 million people and a much higher number of sheep on the island, this place is untouched. It’s impossible to find a place that reminds you of somewhere like Beijing or LA. It’s nature at it’s most pure and I’ve already vowed to retire here.

After arriving in Christchurch we quickly headed across the island to Queenstown where the town is surrounded by mountains and the most beautiful lake I’ve ever seen. While the mountains don’t reach extremely high altitudes, they do protrude up to 12,000 ft from sea level which is indescribable. We spent most of yesterday exploring Queenstown until we decided to white water raft down a class 4 section. With water at a sweltering 4 degrees Celsius, we were chilly to say the least. Unfortunately, nobody in our raft could match AJ’s ejection in Placerville this past summer. It was fun nonetheless.

After rafting we took a locals recommendation and decided to eat at Fergburger. Go ahead, do it now, make fun of the name. Do not make fun of their burgers. Matt Hall and I decided we would take the Fergburger Challenge and attempt to eat Big Al, their largest burger. It consisted of a half pound of meat, beets, onions, tomatoes, cheese, lettuce, bacon, two fried eggs, and various sauces. It was truly a man’s burger, better yet, a manburger. We both succeeded with varying degrees of stomach pain but the feeling of absolute masculinity that followed was well worth it.

Today was no less exciting. We woke up around 3:30 am and headed straight for Milford Sound, Fjordland. It was a four hour drive and I probably would have driven another 30 hours to simply get a glimpse of the majesty of this place. Do yourself a favor, look it up on wikipedia, then come visit it as soon as possible but don’t forget to bring me. We decided on the kayaking expedition which began at 9 am and finished around 3 pm. It was a considerable amount of work but definitely the only way to truly get a feel for the awesomeness of this place. I don’t have much else to say about it but look at my pictures, it’s otherworldly.

Tomorrow is going to be equally exciting. Pray for me. I miss you all and I’m sorry for such a short blog and for such a long period of no blog as the last few days have been hectic.

Let me know how you like the pictures!

Pictures:

Te Anau- Beautiful and has even better food.

View from pier in Queenstown.

View from peer overlooking water.

View from outside hotel.

Beach beneath hotel.

Sunset

Fjords in Fjordland. Honestly, this picture does this place no justice. You have to come on your own to understand it's beauty. Imagine kayaking while surrounded by cliffs rising close to 5,000 feet. Waterfalls were unbelievable. It was cold, but I would have done it a thousand times over.

Who's that beauty on the left? Kayaking in Fjordland. This is before the haircut as you can see.

Thank you everyone, keep me in your prayers!

Michael